Winner
Robert Corrado, Penn State University

Thanks to confidence, an integrated plan, and well-thought-out ideas, Robert Corrado is PRWeek's 2007 Student of the Year. The Penn State junior put forth a clear, yet multi-layered plan to build a PR campaign for Youth Venture.

His plan was two-fold. First, he sought to establish Youth Venture, a group that funds and encourages entrepreneurial activities among youth, as the go-to organization for young people who seek to make a difference. He also wanted to educate potential Youth Venturers about the tangible impact they can have on their communities and the world at large.

His plan had specific goals, seeking to increase active Venturers from 1,300 to 2,300 by January 2009 and to install at least 100 official programs in schools.

Corrado conveyed an understanding of a nonprofit's budgetary limitations. He tailored the campaign to be flexible and cost-effective. Corrado also demonstrated an understanding of the power of social media - looking to leverage videos and blogs to create low-cost ways to get Youth Venture's message out.

The judges were impressed by campaign specifics, including partnerships with Surfer Magazine, a major clothing retailer to solicit ideas for a campaign called "Change The World. Change Your Clothes," and the placement of branded bags at college fairs.

Throughout his presentation, complimented by supporting materials, the judges felt Corrado grasped the promotional opportunities for Youth Venture.

Corrado wisely acknowledged that there are at least two different segmented groups in the 12 to 20 range, and split his campaign to primarily target the 15 to 20 age group, making the 12 to 15 range a secondary target.

Representing Youth Venture, Corrado pitched a list of influential young entrepreneurs to Matthew Boyle, a reporter at Fortune.

"The idea of a list of influential young people in business was novel," Boyle says. "He did not get very rattled, even when he didn't know the answer to questions."

Corrado displayed a good understanding of micro-targeting in his media plan, developing narrowly focused pitches to editors at a wide variety of publications. Judges were impressed that Corrado was able to make Youth Venture a topic for mostly any publication.

The entire pitch was abundant with such an enthusiasm, that one judge remarked, "It's clear he has a great interest in philanthropy."

Honorable Mention
Heather Forster, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill



Forster clearly stated her goals for the campaign, called YV2gether, in her executive summary. Her strategy was to heavily invest in partnerships with Time Warner - and its subsidiaries - and the YMCA. She also planned to establish a major presence on social networking sites. Forster best displayed her talent when discussing the combination of the two: leveraging the partnership with Time Warner to use AOL's instant messaging platform. Forster was also able to satisfactorily answer questions about privacy and liability issues. "She had the most approaches, explored the most avenues," one judge said. The judges also thought highly of Forster's poise during the presentation and Q&A period. Fortune's Boyle says Forster had a good sense of whom she was pitching. "She wisely figured out the quickest way to a journalist's heart is to read his stories," he commented. 

Finalists 2008
Nora Abdelnabi
State University of New York at Oswego

Robert Corrado
Penn State University

Heather Forster
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Corey Lemon
State University of New York at Oswego

Julia Tumas
Penn State University

The Award
Open to all students enrolled in a US college or university between December 14, 2006, and December 14, 2007. Category entrants were presented with a true test of their PR acumen, devising a plan to create a PR campaign for youth entrepreneurship nonprofit Youth Venture to increase its exposure to the target demographic - 12- to 20- year-olds. The five finalists presented their ideas to a panel of judges in New York on January 29. The students were also asked to telephone pitch Youth Venture to Matthew Boyle, reporter at Fortune, and create a fictional crisis communications plan for Youth Venture, where sponsors threatened boycotting the company for the inclusion of a controversial sponsor.

Sponsor: Hill & Knowlton has a global reputation for solving the toughest communications challenges, conquering difficult markets, building or defending reputations, facilitating change, and resolving conflict. We undertake to deliver real, measurable outcomes - and will be judged by them. As one of the world's top full-service, multi-specialist PR consultancies, the depth and breadth of our offer allows us to draw on the right level of insight for clients.